Wine Words & Video Tape

Wine, Words and Videotape

Fine Wine Review site

Bordeaux 2016 Primeurs: Overview

Last year 2015 was wildly heralded. The wines had beauty. The year produced wonderful wine on the right bank, but the picture was a little muddier on the left. Bordeaux 2016 brings greater homogeneity. Excellence is achieved at all levels and in all appellations for the reds. In the Médoc and the Haut-Médoc, the qualitative heights to which the wines soar are remarkable. In that sense it is undoubtedly a great Cabernet year. With the possible exception of 2014 in St Estèphe and 2015 in Margaux, 2016 should probably be seen as the best vintage on the left bank since 2010. But what is particularly exciting about 2016 is that in a great many cases it is a far easier vintage to understand than 2010 at this young stage. The alcohols are significantly lower and the tannins, which are up there with 2010 [and in a few cases even more considerable], seem much more succulent and textured. There is freshness too – and the aromatics are beautiful. The vintage also excels in St Emilion, Pomerol and in Pessac-Léognan. Cabernet Franc has done extremely well, but so too has Merlot. There are exceptions. Firstly the vines struggled with the drought on the lighter soils and in younger plots. Secondly, the hot and dry conditions were not always favourable to some of Bordeaux’s dry whites, the aromatic Sauvignon Blanc in particular. Yet for the reds I came away from many of the tastings during primeurs with the same excitement as I had back in 2009 and 2010. 2016 is potentially great and concludes a trilogy of fascinating vintages for the region.

One thing is for sure. 2016 is a vintage that took many by surprise. It was a vintage of two halves. The start to the year was extremely wet, but quite mild. This rain turned out to be useful in replenishing the groundwater reserves which would be sorely needed later. There were nerve racking frosts at the end of April which did crop damage in a few places [especially in parts of Pessac-Léognan]. On the eve of flowering, conditions weren’t really up to much. Then, on cue with a sense of dramatic timing, a miraculous window of fine weather opened up. This allowed for good, even fruit set and later a harvest with good yields [the vintage is the largest since 2004].

Vines at Château Latour

By mid June onwards the summer heated up and, in many places, it didn’t rain significantly – in some places it didn’t rain at all – until mid-September. Despite the sun and the heat, the daily range was good, with cooler than average nights [2016 was no 2003]. This preserved acidity in the grapes and their aromatic qualities [at least in the reds with their tougher skins]. There was also a significant build up of anthocyanins in the grapes. Véraison [the colour change in the grapes] was also quick and even. The main issue, with sunny and hot [sometimes very hot] days continuing into September, was the ripening of the tannins given the continued drought conditions. What was needed to complete the narrative [for a potentially excellent red wine harvest] was a bout of considerable rain in a short period. Ideally this would be followed by a return to sunny, dry conditions, but perhaps not too hot.

A foggy morning at Calon-Ségur

Remarkably this is exactly what happened. A storm brought rain in mid-September [13th]. Dry and largely sunny weather returned [with cool nights] and good conditions prevailed well into October. This enabled many growers to pick when they wished [a so called ‘deckchair’ vintage] and attain optimal ripeness, which was facilitated in part by the extra mid-September rain.

Overall, left bank and right, 2016 shares the bright and beautiful fruit tones of the 2015 vintage, but has greater concentration and density owing to the drought and warmer conditions. There’s really no such thing as an entirely perfect Bordeaux vintage. Even the bright shining stars of 2009 and 2010 brought their disappointments. Bordeaux is a big place. There’s variation. Heat, drought and late harvests don’t favour all grape varieties or places equally. Topography and soil type all play a huge part. Then there’s the human dimension. If I could find a weakness in 2016 it could be in a few of the reds in Pessac-Léognan and in the dry whites, but overall 2016 does appear a remarkably homogeneous and exciting year. I believe Sauternes and Barsac have had an excellent vintage but I didn’t get the chance to taste them this year.

Right at the top of the left bank there is a lot of delicious Médoc too. Here there should be good value. Properties like Château Potensac, Château La Tour de By and Goulée look exceptionally good, but there are many others [like Château Blaignan, Château Loudenne, Château Patache d’Aux for example] that will give tremendous pleasure.

Next up my detailed tasting notes. I’ll start with the Côtes de Bordeaux appellations – an impressive bunch – and then look at St Emilion, Lalande de Pomerol and Pomerol.

Recent Comments

tkoby11

Jeremy I tasted these the week before last in the States and with 3 hours only got to about 60 wines total but was sure to hit all wines, sometime twice, that were of personal and purchase interest for me. We are fairly similar in our assessment with a few swaps between your level 1 and my level 2. Troplong Mondot, Pavie Macquin, and Canon Lagaffeliere were tops for me. Figeac was not showing well, I have loved this wine from literally every vintage I have ever had, its a no score for me to be tried again. Cab sauv in the C. Lagaf gave it a nice extra tannic beam of structure on all the lush fruit, Mondot and Macquin being neighbors and have lots of limestone soils are nice twins. I also think that Macquin 10 blows the doors off their 2009.